Hindi film festival, 'Oscars of India,' overlooks Surrey

Bollywood stars Shahid Kapoor (left) and Priyanka Chopra perform on stage during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Singapore. The Times of India Film Awards will be held in Vancouver in April. (Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images)

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It may be home to tens of thousands of South Asian residents and be B.C.'s second-largest city, but Surrey was apparently left out of a Hindi film festival dubbed "the Oscars of India"until this week.

Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, said that organizers of the Times of India Film Awards began working to bring an event to the city of 483,000 residents only after the issue became public Wednesday.

Huberman said it was frustrating also that her organization promoted the idea to the provincial government after it was conceptualized by the Canada-India Business Council.

"I think the realization is that an event has to happen in Surrey. It needs to happen because 30 per cent of our population is South Asian," said Huberman by phone.

"And so something is going to be happening, I'm still pushing for it, and I'm hoping that some type of announcement will happen soon, but time is against us."

A festival spokesperson did not return a telephone call or email from The Canadian Press seeking comment.

A government media release stated festival-related events would take place around Metro Vancouver and would infuse $13 million to $18 million of direct spending into the economy.

To help produce the event, the provincial government said it would provide $9.5 million in matching funding to the Times of India Group.

The group is the largest media conglomerate in India and owns the world's largest English-language daily newspaper, drawing some eight million daily readers.

"I don't know why Surrey wasn't part of the original program to begin with, but as I said we're pushing for it still," Huberman said.

But Vivek Savkur, president of the Canada-India Business Council's regional office in B.C., is positive Surrey will be included in the festival, even though less than a month remains before it begins.

"I don't think that should be a problem but we take a final decision on what's to be done on Monday," Savkur said.

After all, he said he came up with the idea to bring the festival to B.C., and Surrey was always part of the plans, which now include events at BC Place, the Vancouver Convention Centre, and the Pacific National Exhibition.

Savkur said organizers haven't been able to proceed with a Surrey event yet because there have been "issues" with theatres and venues.

He said he has even met with the city's mayor a few months ago.

"The majority of the South Asian ethic population is here in Surrey," he said, noting it would be "inappropriate" not to have a film event in the city.